


Like Glitter and Gold (I'll Rise Up)

by wigglyink



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Awesome Pepper Potts, BAMF Pepper Potts, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Endgame, Extremis Pepper Potts, Extremis Tony Stark, F/M, Fix-It, Fuck The Russo Brothers, How Do I Tag, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, No Beta, Not Really Character Death, Not on my watch, Pepper Potts Feels, Protective Pepper Potts, Temporary Character Death, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark deserves happiness, how avengers endgame should have ended, i love pepper potts, in this house we die like men, tony stark doesn't die
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-07 08:48:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18617224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wigglyink/pseuds/wigglyink
Summary: AVENGERS ENDGAME SPOILERSHow THAT scene should have ended. Includes Pepper Potts being awesome. Tony doesn't die because i said so.





	Like Glitter and Gold (I'll Rise Up)

**Author's Note:**

> Fuck the Russo brothers.   
> I have a headcanon that post-Siberia, Pepper decides to use Extremis on Tony because he's on the verge of death. It was always a last resort thing. She and FRIDAY decide to make Protocol Hot Mess because Extremis is never full gone from Tony's system, it's just kinda in sleep mode? Oh and FRIDAY is more sentient, just like JARVIS was. It just takes her some time. 
> 
> I need Tony to live, he has a daughter to take care off (I'm not ready to let go).

“No, no no!” Pepper can hear herself scream. She flies as fast as she can, hoping it would be enough. She feels panic crawl on the back of her throat as she approaches him. She lands in front of Tony. She grabs Peter and pulls him to the side so she can see her lover.

HIs right arm is burned. He’s looking at her, so much love in those chocolate brown eyes. He gives her a small smile, even though he knows he can’t fool her.  
“Hey Pep” he whispers.   
“FRIDAY?” Pepper says frantically. Her hope is fading with every second. Tony is on the Death’s doorstep once again and she’s not sure she can pull him back.  
“I’m sorry… Boss is in a critical condition.” answers her the AI with a melodic irish accent. Uninvited tears start forming in Pepper’s eyes.  
“FRI... Protocol Hot… Mess.” her voice is breaking. Tony is looking at her with sadness in his eyes and a silent question she doesn’t want to answer.  
She brings up her hand, still in a cold metal suit. She puts her palm on Tony’s cheek, who melts into it like a touch-starved cat. Through a metal glove, she can feel a bit of body heat on the other side. Tony looks up at her. His eyes hold a timid question. Pepper’s breath hitches in her throat. He closes his eyes.

“It’s okay, we’ll be okay. You can rest now.” she says to him, not caring about how other people will see her in that moment. She allows herself to come undone, as sobs wretch through her body, leaving her shaking. She holds onto him like he’s her lifeline. Rhodey’s hand is on her back in a weak attempt of comfort. 

Suddenly, she feels a flash of fire on her skin. New hope blossoms in her chest. She looks up. Tony’s veins light up in fiery orange. It reminds her of all those years ago, when their relationship wasn’t that stable and Tony was active as Iron Man. It reminds her of Killian, of falling, of long hours spend in the lab with Tony working on making her self-explosion-proof. It reminds her of finding a broken suit in Siberia, of a shield covered in her lover’s blood, of Extremis being the only cure.

She watches with fascination as remnants of the virus work with the flickering arc reactor to fix what has been broken. A lot of things have been broken. Pepper can hear Rhodey gasping in shock upor realization and Peter’s confused rambling. She drowns out the background sounds and searches for Tony’s breath. It’s rigid and shallow but still there. Rhodey comes from beside her and grabs what’s left of the Infinity Stones and parts of Iron Man suit that held them before Tony sacrificed himself. She shots Colonel a grateful look. She was too focused on Tony to think about the Stones interfering with the virus. She searches the suit and looks for safety locks to open it up. It’s not necessary, the nanobots are crawling back into their housing unit. She feels a surge of pride - it must be FRIDAY taking initiative. She’s come so far in the last five years. Pepper long ago started to think about her as their oldest daughter. She runs her fingers through Tony’s hair, trying to ignore how Extremis is burning him from the inside.

Because Extremis is fire. 

And Pepper knows how it feels.

She remembers the feeling of lava like an old friend. To have her body lit with a hellfire, to feel herself burning to ashes and being remade, the constant too hot too hot TOO HOT running through her mind.   
Tony remembers it too, after Siberia. The fire burned away the cold. It was his only option of getting out of that damned frozen wasteland alive. 

It is his only option once again.

His arm is glowing bright orange. The sharp light attracts the other Avengers like moths. Pepper and hear them asking questions, but her gaze is locked on Tony’s face. It’s blank, hints of weariness that accompanied him for so many years are erased.   
“Pepper, we should lay him down.” Rhodey’s voice breaks through Pepper’s cocoon.   
She nods absent-minded. He tries to touch the younger man, but the fire burns hot and he quickly pulls his hand back muttering curses under his breath.  
“You okay?” she asks right away.   
“No! My best friend was dying just five minutes ago and now he’s lit up like a Christmas tree and is burning! No, I’m not okay!” he snaps and covers his face in his hands. Pepper is absently rubbing her eyes, as she stares at her husband.   
The glow weakens as it becomes softer, more subtle. The skin under it is still burned, but nowhere near what has been before. Pepper feels as if she can breathe a little bit deeper. 

When Tony finally wakes up, it’s with a sharp jolt and a hiss of pain. His body is still sore, but he feels alive.   
Pepper catches him and enfolds him in a firm hug. There are tears in her eyes that threaten to fall any second, exactly like those that are already drying out.  
“Hey there Miss Potts.” Tony says, his voice hoarse.  
“Welcome back, Mister Stark.” she whispers.  
There’s a battlefield burning around them, but they hold each other close. Too scared to let go again, too scared that everything that happened moments ago was an illusion that will fade any second. They leave their shame behind and start sobbing, their tears mix with dirt and blood that hasn’t dried yet.  
“Boss?” he hears a quiet question of one of his creations.  
“Hey, baby girl.” he answers the AI and his heart starts to swell with pride.   
They all came so far.  
“The Extremis has healed the worst of your injuries, but I would still recommend seeing a doctor.” an irish accent sings in his and Pep’s suits.   
Pepper offers him a fond look, completed by a soft “You’re not getting out of this one.”  
“I wouldn’t dream about it.” he says without hesitation. He now has someone to live for, after all.  
He accepts Pepper’s help and slowly gets up. He heavily relies on her to hold his body weight but damn, he saved the universe! he deserves it.  
Rhodey comes up on the other side and offers his help. Tony gives him a grateful smile and puts his free arm around his neck. Tony can feel on himself the looks of thousands of people who came to help defeat Thanos’ army. They now look at the man who saved the universe, as he stumbles and is being helped by two other people wearing metal suits.


End file.
